oni nou Posted September 11, 2018 Report Share Posted September 11, 2018 (edited) 59 minutes ago, breagh said: A club member the other day said ATF is meant to be used in a pressurised system , I've no idea could this be so? It is designed to be a lubricant and it is sometimes used as a hydraulic fluid in systems such as power assisted steering;but it is not specifically designed or soley meant to be used in a pressurised system. Trials wet clutch gearboxes have had ATF used in them for many years and they are not pressurised systems. Edited September 11, 2018 by oni nou Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
breagh Posted September 12, 2018 Report Share Posted September 12, 2018 My thinking is 99% of Trials bikes just do basic trials and in general things are fine. Now, some do get a fair bit roadwork and the oil is sometimes used to lube the main bearings. This where things get a hard time as they're not really made for this.so the oil has a really hard job being that some of them hardly have any oil in them. Just a thought as I've had problems in this area.. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oni nou Posted September 12, 2018 Report Share Posted September 12, 2018 4 hours ago, breagh said: My thinking is 99% of Trials bikes just do basic trials and in general things are fine. Now, some do get a fair bit roadwork and the oil is sometimes used to lube the main bearings. This where things get a hard time as they're not really made for this.so the oil has a really hard job being that some of them hardly have any oil in them. Just a thought as I've had problems in this area.. Why would the ATF not lubricate the main bearings when used for road work.......if the ATF is in good condition and the correct amount of lubricant is in the gearbox then it will do the same lubricating as something like 75w gear oil .........ATF is used in automatic gearboxes of vehicles that drive on motorways for hours on end. Is this thinking based on ATF's low viscosity and the thought that only something of a higher viscosity can lubricate properly ..if that were true all the auto gearboxes would not last more than a few hours of use if that This is a similar way of thinking to the 100:1 2T in OSSA TRi bikes as opposed to those who have the fear and want to put bucket loads of oil in even though the evidence of those using 100:1 says that the motor works at 100:1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baldilocks Posted September 12, 2018 Report Share Posted September 12, 2018 If you ever had the main bearings out of a gas gas and seen the size of the pinhole in the bearing case I wouldn't think a thicker oil helps. From memory I think the pin hole is the exit but even so oil needs to circulate. I'm still a fan of main bearings lubricated by transmission oil as opposed to 2 stroke mixed with petrol. However bearing technology and application changes. One of my friends, a maintenance engineer couldn't believe that my 07 Sherco had sealed main bearings. However they worked perfectly, better than the open bearings which were an issue with early models. The quality of the bearing fitted can't be underestimated Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taff_d Posted September 12, 2018 Report Share Posted September 12, 2018 Just been reading up on ATF and found this on a transmission manufacturers website. Quote Gear oil basics: • Gear oil works to lubricate and prevent corrosion in a manual transmission. • Because manual transmissions experience high friction during gear changes and clutch press-and-release, gear oil has additives of sulfur-bearing anti-wear compounds. This gives gear oil a distinctive, strong smell. • Gear oil is also thicker than ATF because it serves mainly to lubricate the gearbox, transfer cases, and differentials. Incorrectly using ATF in a manual transmission or gear oil in an automatic transmission can severely increase the wear and tear. ATF does not have the thick lubrication qualities needed in a manual gearbox, and gear oil does not contain all the additives needed to smoothly run an automatic transmission. Like I said earlier my dealer hates the stuff and said he's seen soon horrible sights when stripping engines that use ATF, I'll stick to the Light gear oil. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heffergm Posted September 12, 2018 Report Share Posted September 12, 2018 (edited) FWIW, just about every GG, Vertigo and TRS (among others) in the US is run on ATF. Half the manufacturers spec ATF specifically in the US market because you can't get things like Nils here, which is a popular sponsorship deal that they like to get in the manuals these days. Find an early TRS or Vertigo manual... they both spec'd ATF because they hadn't gotten around to firming up deals with any brand name suppliers to put in the books. Edited September 12, 2018 by heffergm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oni nou Posted September 12, 2018 Report Share Posted September 12, 2018 (edited) 2 hours ago, taff_d said: Just been reading up on ATF and found this on a transmission manufacturers website. Like I said earlier my dealer hates the stuff and said he's seen soon horrible sights when stripping engines that use ATF, I'll stick to the Light gear oil. by incorrectly using ATF means not using the correct type of ATF......there are many different types of ATF that have different additives .......you must use ATF Dexron III or VI in a trials motorcycles manual gearbox. I have used ATF in trials motorcycles on and off for many years with no gearbox breakages as have many other people Edited September 12, 2018 by oni nou Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taff_d Posted September 12, 2018 Report Share Posted September 12, 2018 I'll stick to Light Gear Oil, readily available and cheap as chips ?TRS recommend NILS for my bike but it's only available mail order. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baldilocks Posted September 12, 2018 Report Share Posted September 12, 2018 Taff is that quote not related to a car where the clutch is separate anyway? Just keep using what works for you. No need for anyone to change what they use unless they have a problem to solve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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